Huawei introduced Watch GT 2 Pro smartwatches and FreeBuds Pro TWS headphones

Design and convenience

In smartwatches, these two concepts are closely connected.

The first generation of Huawei Watch looked simply gorgeous. At the time of release (September 2020), there was nothing more beautiful on the market. The perfectly round display, thin bezel and neat body are a true benchmark among smartwatches.

Huawei Watch 1st generation

The only competitor is, perhaps, the Moto 360, but they have a disgusting black stripe under the screen.

Moto 360 2nd revision

And now we have a new product - Huawei Watch 2, the design of which disappointed me.

The first thing that bothers me is the thickness of 12.6 mm. I don't like having the Pip-Boy 3000 on my arm. How do I even use this?!

You constantly cling to everything you can with your body. The cuffs of sweaters and windbreakers stretch or rest uncomfortably on the protruding dial.

I don’t go to the mountains, I don’t survive on rough terrain, so I don’t need all sorts of Casio G-Shocks and similar obscenities.

Why did Huawei increase this hefty bezel both in width and height in the second generation of smartwatches? It does not carry any functional load at all. Yes, it is made of ceramic, which is great and, in theory, scratch-resistant. But why does he stand out so much?

What are these numbers around the circle? What are they for anyway? Believe me, everything happens on the watch screen. And these digital symbols in a circle do not interact in any way with what is happening on the display.

By the way, the Classic version looks sleeker and neater. Although she, of course, is also far from the minimalism of the first generation.

Huawei Watch 2 Classic

This ends the negative aspects of the gadget. From now on I will only praise the watch, because objectively there is a reason for it.

If the leather strap from LG Watch Style began to deteriorate already in the first week of use, then the bracelet from Watch 2 has a completely different fate. It is made of either plastic or rubber, therefore, it is not at all afraid of water, dust or any other troubles.

In addition, the strap is very easy to fasten and remove. There is no need to pull hard on one of the tabs, pick out the metal fastener, and so on.

The bracelet can also be easily detached from the case. Theoretically, it can be replaced with any other. The main thing is that the parameters match: 20 mm - width and 140/210 mm - length.

Under one mount is a slot for a Nano SIM card. Why is he needed here? But why.

There is a set of the main SIM card (in a smartphone) and its duplicate (for smart watches). Not all operators provide the service of issuing a duplicate, but this is a different kind of question.

When you need to go for a run, there is no desire to drag your smart “shovel” with you. But a smart watch neatly attached to your hand is just that.

I left my smartphone at home, walked out the door, the connection between the watch and the main device is immediately lost, and then the 4G module in the wrist gadget is activated, which will replace your phone. When you reconnect the watch to the phone, the built-in 4G modem is disabled.

And yes, on Huawei Watch 2 you can do almost all the same basic functions as on a smartphone: make calls, receive and respond to SMS (Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.), use maps (built-in GPS), pay for purchases in the store (there is NFC and soon there will be Android Pay) and so on. In general, this functionality will be enough for the duration of street training. Going to a concert where there is no need for unnecessary things is another use case.

There is a built-in heart rate monitor on the back of the watch. It measures the pulse either forcibly or throughout the day to track the statistics of its owner.

There are two buttons on the side: the top one is responsible for going to the list of applications, and the bottom one launches the training mode.

By the way, about the last one. There is an objective reason to scold the developers. During initial activation on the watch, you need to set up your profile: height, weight, age, and so on. So there is no choice between pounds and centimeters. I don’t know where to change this. There is no such functionality in a smartphone; the settings do not appear on the watch until you enter your data. And this despite the fact that the language I chose Russian when I first turned on the watch, the device is synchronized with my Russian (!) accounts, where there is a Russian language. Why shouldn’t the watch automatically guess what country I’m from and what measurement system I have?!

Design

The first thing you notice is that the watch is large. Thick, dimensional, relatively heavy. But so far they are almost all like this, so there was no choice. I thought that on my hand they would be very huge, but they look adequate, no one pays attention to them. Typical sports watch.

The body of Huawei Watch 2 Sport is made partly of plastic - pleasant to the touch, does not get dirty, not subject to scratches, partly of metal - both buttons, the back panel. But the bezel is ceramic. Thanks to the massive (perhaps too much) bezel, the screen is protected and is difficult to break or scratch.

The case is not afraid of dust and water (IP68 standard); if desired, you can swim with the watch. It’s convenient for me that I don’t have to take them off when going to the shower after a run.

There are two large keys with a clear stroke. The top one is responsible for turning it on/off (very long press), activating Google Assistant (long press) and calling up the application menu, as well as going back. The bottom one can be configured to quickly launch one of the applications. I would like more flexibility. For example, long press - one program, short - another, double - third.

The rear panel houses a heart rate sensor, as well as contacts for connecting magnetic charging. The strap is attached as standard, removable and replaceable. In my case, it is silicone, since it is a sports version of the watch. The clasp is comfortable, the texture is interesting. But I would like more perforations in the strap - often after contact with water or jogging, the hand under it sweats.

I also had a detailed problem with Bip, I ordered another strap from Ali. I also ordered for Huawei Watch 2 (I’m waiting), but there were no orange options to match the body, so it will most likely turn out to be a “collective farm”.

In general, you quickly get used to the size and weight of the watch and almost don’t feel it on your hand. I even sleep with them (sleep tracking is good).

Display

Compared to the first generation, the screen in Watch 2 has decreased from 1.4 to 1.2 inches diagonally. The resolution has also dropped: from 400 x 400 pixels to 390 x 390. However, the dots per inch density has increased from 286 to 326 dpi and this is certainly good.

An AMOLED matrix was placed in the watch so that it consumes as little battery energy as possible. Everything is correct. However, the screen itself is not of very high quality - the PenTile effect is noticeable without much difficulty. Fortunately, you get used to it over time.

Viewing angles are not ideal, but much better than in the LG Watch Style. There the picture was inverted even at 45 degrees, but here the “green” appears only at extreme viewing angles.

The sapphire glass was removed, replaced by Gorilla Glass of an unknown generation. On the other hand, the screen is so deeply recessed into the body that it will not be easy to damage it. There is also a high-quality oleophobic coating. We breathe out a sigh of relief.

Technical specifications of Huawei Watch 2

The hardware of the new product is better compared with the watches that are already in the company’s portfolio - Huawei Watch 1st generation. Their review has been on our website for 100 years, and now let’s visually compare the characteristics of both revisions.

As you can see, there are a lot of differences. Both in terms of hardware inside and in terms of capabilities, the second generation is significantly ahead of the previous ones.

Does it make sense to upgrade if everything suits you in the first generation? I think no. Fortunately, the first revision looks much more beautiful.

If you don’t have a watch at all, but really want it, then, of course, you should only take the Huawei Watch 2. The same NFC is not yet used in Russia, but with the advent of Android Pay, the situation will change and it will be possible to pay for purchases directly from your wrist. This is great!

Yes, and GPS with 4G support will not be superfluous. The difference in cost is only 4 thousand rubles, and in those rare moments when these opportunities will really come in handy, you may regret their absence.

On the other side! If you have never owned a smartwatch, but want to try it, you can buy a used one. first generation version. Now they sell for an average of 15,000 rubles.

Display and control

The front panel is occupied by a 1.39-inch AMOLED without any problems reading information even under bright light. The light sensor works correctly, the moments of brightness adjustment are not noticeable. The thick bezel of the display is enhanced by additional markings on the gray bezel and black frame - a neat find. An effective oleophobic coating adds aesthetics and convenience.

The protective glass is noticeably curved so that the surface of the dial protrudes beyond the case. This potentially increases the risk of accidentally breaking the watch, but after a month of use, not a single scratch appeared on the glass.

The primary task of the watch is to show the time; for this purpose, MagicWatch 2 comes pre-installed with different skins: analog and digital, minimalistic and with additional information - in other words, there is plenty to choose from. But skins do not support fine customization; you cannot change the colors of individual elements or information on the card. The second point is that the skins are not translated into Russian: the days of the week, month, units of measurement and other information are displayed in English. This little detail does not affect the information content, but creates an unpleasant impression of a crude gadget.

Contrary to popular stereotypes, HONOR watches support third-party watch faces; the catalog can be found in the companion on your smartphone. There are only a few dozen different skins; the list also includes themed options, for example, for Christmas. The dials are installed in one click, and there is no difference in power consumption between them.

In this generation, HONOR and Huawei watches have acquired the function of constantly displaying the time, but the implementation is lame. Firstly, regardless of the selected skin, you can choose one of two simple watch faces, analog or digital, for permanent display. The pinnacle of customization is changing the color of the accents. Thus, the appearance of the Anways-On screen is always discordant with the main skin. Secondly, if you cover the active watch face with your palm, the screen will go completely dark without activating the constant display. This is despite the fact that the palm gesture does not work in other menus.

Cards are collected to the left and right of the dial; their set and display order cannot be customized in any way. When swiping from right to left, the order is: heart rate, stress level, weather, music and activity level. The cards are moderately informative and not overloaded with unnecessary information, so you quickly get used to them. A curtain with quick settings is pulled out from above. The application menu is called up with the top key. To return to the watch face from any menu, use the same top key. You can assign any shortcut from the menu to the bottom button.

Notifications from selected applications are displayed on the screen and collected in a general list without grouping into branches below the watch face. The watch does not indicate the application from which the notification came; only the sender's name is in the header. Moreover, if the message came from a conversation, its title will be indicated in the header, followed by the sender’s name separated by a colon. But on the watch screen, as a rule, there is not enough space to display a long title, and there is no ticker. Another point is that the watch does not support emojis, leaving spaces. Some methods of interacting with messages are not available, read only. Let me remind you that both interaction with cards and support for emoticons were in Huawei watches on Wear OS several years ago. If necessary, in addition to vibration, you can turn on the sound of notifications like on a smartphone.

The watch allows you to accept or reject calls, but you cannot send SMS from templates. But it is possible to talk handsfree, thanks to the built-in speaker and microphone. Also in the application menu there are lists of calls and favorite contacts, allowing you not to take out your smartphone for calls at all.

Differences between Huawei Watch 2 Sport and Classic

The first and main difference is the price. The sports version costs 22,990 rubles in the basic configuration and 26,990 rubles for the model with LTE. In addition, there are several colors: all-black, black with an orange strap, and gray, which is splashed with paint. I don't know how else to describe it. See for yourself.

The classic version does not have Nano SIM support (logic?!) and is sold for the same 26,990 rubles. There is one color - a dark case and the same color, but with a leather strap (22 and 140-210 mm).

Huawei Watch 2 Classic

There are also differences in the material of the case. In our model, it is made of plastic, with a ceramic bezel installed on top. The “classic” has the same bezel around the screen, only more neat, and the body is already combined: plastic + stainless steel.

There are no other differences. For my taste, if you take it, then the older model with 4G support. Not the most necessary thing in such a portable gadget, but it will come in handy.

New Huawei smart watches

Additional evidence of user interest in Huawei watches is that this manufacturer has increased its market share the most. This is despite the fact that the new watch has not yet been released and even now we only have a leak.

Xiaomi already has more popular smartphones than Samsung and this is just the beginning

Huawei has been releasing new products on all fronts for its domestic market since the beginning of 2020. However, it has launched only a few devices in global markets this year. According to a new leak, Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro will be the next new product from the company that users around the world will be able to buy.

Google explained how coronavirus affected Google Maps

Roland Quandt from WinFuture shared renders and characteristics of the upcoming Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro. The Chinese telecom giant's new smartwatch is predicted to be a minor update to last year's Watch GT 2. It will be available in Germany in the coming weeks for around 280 euros.

This price cannot be called low, since for this or approximately this money you can buy almost any other watch, but the new product still differs from last year’s model for the better. Therefore, she will definitely have to ensure the interest of buyers. Especially compared to the success of the previous Huawei Watch GT2, which I also liked. This is the case when the second generation really takes into account the mistakes of the first and corrects them.

One of the color options for the new Watch GT 2 Pro.

What are smart watches for?

The first category of those in need are athletes. The device provides really cool capabilities for tracking not only basic activity, but sports activity. GPS tracking, active heart rate measurement, signaling when the heartbeat goes beyond the established limits - these are perhaps the most complex and interesting things. It is clear that a million types of workouts, sleep tracking and the number of steps have not gone away. All this can be synchronized with Google Fit and other advanced systems such as Runtastic, Strava, etc.

Personally, I’m interested in receiving notifications on my wrist so I don’t have to reach into my bag for my smartphone every time. You can even quickly respond with some pre-recorded phrase.

I first started using the “OK Google” feature. It’s convenient to ask your watch about the weather outside while you’re getting ready to leave the house. I haven't learned any other tricks yet.

Music management is another topic I liked. I have a smartphone in my backpack, Bluetooth headphones on my head, and I can control playback or see the name of a song simply by raising my hand - cool!

The built-in microphone, or rather, even two, is also an advantage. At first I didn’t think so, it seemed to me that all this was from the evil one. However, during 2 weeks of use, there were a couple of cases when this feature was useful to me. Here is one example.

I was photographing another device, I had a camera in one hand and a softbox in the other. Then I get a call, at the wrong moment. I have no idea where my phone is. I answered from my watch, talked for a minute, and went on with my business without being distracted. Similar to HandsFree, which you always have with you.

I really liked that the clock screen can be left on. The backlight dims slightly, but the picture on the display is always active. For some reason this could not be done in LG Watch Style.

Huawei Watch 2 (left) and LG Watch Style

Android Wear

Here we have version 2.0 of the system and it’s great. The first revisions were completely inconvenient, not the least bit logical and often glitched, lagged and slowed down.

Together with the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, everything began to work much faster. However, the launch of some utilities is still far from instantaneous. The clock likes to get thoughtful, but you stand there like a fool and stare at your hand, wait.

However, the controls have become much more logical. However, Android Wear still has room to grow. Here is one example that requires study and is completely intuitive.

Watch apps are one thing, smartphone apps are another. It's clear. However, if you downloaded, for example, Telegram to your phone, it will not automatically appear in the watch’s memory. Moreover, in a special application on a smartphone you cannot force it into the smart watch’s memory. The installation must be continued on the clock. It has its own Google Play, where the “Applications on the phone” section appears.

I'm confused why I can't manage the apps installed on my watch on my smartphone. It would be logical.

And yes, there is full compatibility with Android and iOS.

Continuing our review of the top smartwatches of 2020, we will pay more attention to the basic and most affordable version of the Huawei Watch 2 Classic. The Huawei Watch 2 Classic is a stylish and productive gadget with the latest Android Wear 2.0 system. Unlike the Sport version, the classic watch does not offer extensive fitness options. Their target audience is likely to be those who want a stylish smartwatch with cutting-edge features on their wrist.

The main advantages of Huawei Watch 2 Classic include the Android Wear 2.0 system and attractive design, while the disadvantages are the lack of LTE and the usual crown. Huawei watches have been one of the best of the best Android Wear gadgets. Despite the higher price compared to its competitors, the watch was in great demand and became popular. The company presented a new version of the smartwatch at the MWC 2020 exhibition in Barcelona.

The Classic version is more affordable and lacks an LTE module. For more advanced needs, it is better to pay attention to the Huawei 2 Sport model. This is one of the very first devices with Google's 2.0 system. For those wishing to obtain an exclusive design, a Porsche Design version will also be presented. The starting price for the Watch 2 Classic model is approximately $420. Sales in the USA, UK and Australia will start in April 2020, after which a release will be announced in other countries of the world, including Russia.

Design of Huawei Watch 2 Classic

The design of the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is somewhat reminiscent of the original first version of the gadget, but there are a number of differences. The new version has a thinner body, which is not typical for most modern Android Wear gadgets. The watch can still hardly be called ultra-thin, so even the classic version may not be suitable for users with thin wrists, not to mention the Huawei sports model.

The left side of the device is decorated with the Huawei logo, which looks extremely at home on a smartwatch, while reflecting the style of more traditional watches. On the right side there are two large buttons at the 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock positions, with which you can navigate around the device. The top button activates the desktop, while the bottom button is programmed with the device's fitness functions.

If you're not interested in fitness, you can reprogram this button for any Android Wear 2.0 functions. Do you regularly use messages on your watch? You can customize the button to instantly open the corresponding application. In this case, you will not need to constantly scroll through the menu in search of a suitable item. The strangest decision is that Huawei used a design without a crown, or the usual rotating disk, as in the Samsung Gear S3 or Apple Watch 2 devices. Here you will have to use a touch screen, which cannot be called a convenient way to navigate for small displays.

The controls are not as intuitive as using a rotating dial, and this is the main negative of the Watch 2 Classic. You involuntarily catch yourself thinking that you want to spin the ring around the display. The IP68 water resistance rating allows the user not to worry about the watch getting wet while taking a shower, but it is still not recommended to wear it in the pool. The watch band is leather on the outside, but has a water-repellent coating underneath the leather, so you don't have to worry about absorbing sweat during workouts. The strap fits very well on the wrist and is suitable for both everyday life and office work.

Watch 2 Classic display and specifications

The 1.2-inch AMOLED display on the Huawei Watch 2 Classic with a resolution of 390 x 390 offers 326 pixels per inch. The screen is quite bright and clear, and makes navigation much easier in bright sunshine. The classic smartwatch uses the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor, just like the Sport version. All apps load quickly and smoothly, just like other Android Wear devices.

Internal storage for music is limited to 2GB, when most competitors, including the LG Watch Style, have 4GB available. You can only store a few of your favorite albums in the phone's memory, which is far from impressive. According to the developers, the Huawei Watch 2 Classic will last for two days without recharging thanks to a 420mAh battery, and fast charging technology goes through a full cycle to 100% in less than an hour. For fitness enthusiasts, Watch 2 Classic offers a GPS module and a heart rate monitor. At the same time, there is no LTE, so you will have to take your smartphone with you on a run.

Huawei Watch 2 Classic apps

This is one of the first watches to come with Android Wear 2.0 installed by default, giving the user all the latest benefits of the updated operating system, including the Google Assistant. Android Pay is also available with an NFC chip, making it easy to make contactless payments in stores.

The Huawei Watch 2 Classic smart watch cannot be called a significant update of the original first version, and its functionality is limited compared to Huawei Watch 2. But due to the lack of LTE, the watch is more autonomous. The Classic version will be of interest to those who want a stylish device with an advanced operating system, but do not need the specific fitness features available in the Sport version. With the release of the new version of the watch, the original Huawei Watch has dropped in price, but it can be considered as a competitor to the Classic version.

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Published: April 29, 2017

Tags: android wear, huawei, smart watches

Battery life

The manufacturer claims two days of autonomy, but in real life, it’s more like a day and a half, no more. This indicator is achieved if the gadget is continuously connected to the smartphone, the screen is constantly on and all sorts of different notifications are received.

If you insert a SIM card and disconnect the device from the smartphone, the Watch 2 Sport will last exactly one day.

Autonomy is also stated at 10 hours in training mode (GPS, heart rate measurement and other sensors are active).